Peregrine CEO Gets 50 Years in Prison

[1]Russell Wasendorf Sr. will spend decades in prison for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in client money from his failed investment firm[2].

A U.S. District Court judge sentenced the disgraced CEO to 50 years in prison on Thursday. The government alleges that Wasendorf embezzeled more than $215 million from clients of Peregrine Financial Group while he falsified banking records for the firm, The New York Times noted.

Wasendorf used laser printers and advanced imaging software like PhotoShop to produce fake account statements and banking records. More worrying, he was able to deceive financial regulators by giving them a false post office box address for his bank. He owned the box and faked replies from the bank.

As regulators finally closed in on Peregrine last year, Wasendorf was found in his car outside the firm’s offices[3], apparently having attempted to commit suicide. He left a note confessing to his fraud, which he kept from the 240 other employees at Peregrine.

Last month, Wasendorf pleaded guilty to lying to federal officials and mail fraud[4].